NameCensus.

UK surname

Renwick

From the Old English elements "regen," meaning advice, and "wic," meaning village, thus "village of advice or counsel."

In the 1881 census there were 2,082 people recorded with the Renwick surname, ranking it #2,123 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 3,071, ranked #2,193, down from #2,123 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Lanchester (Collierley, Kyo, Billingside, Medomsley, Ebchchester, Benfieldside, Heelyfield, Conside, Melrose and Hawick and Wilton. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Hawick West End, County Durham and Lochside and Lincluden.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Renwick is 3,097 in 2014. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 47.5%.

1881 census count

2,082

Ranked #2,123

Modern count

3,071

2016, ranked #2,193

Peak year

2014

3,097 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Renwick had 2,082 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #2,123 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 3,071 in 2016, ranked #2,193.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 2,473 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established but Challenged.

Renwick surname distribution map

The map shows where the Renwick surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Renwick surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Renwick over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 1,397 #2,052
1861 historical 1,370 #2,090
1881 historical 2,082 #2,123
1891 historical 2,181 #2,145
1901 historical 2,473 #2,209
1911 historical 1,593 #3,052
1997 modern 2,902 #2,232
1998 modern 2,963 #2,274
1999 modern 2,952 #2,293
2000 modern 2,960 #2,281
2001 modern 2,870 #2,296
2002 modern 2,935 #2,299
2003 modern 2,882 #2,280
2004 modern 2,870 #2,295
2005 modern 2,878 #2,251
2006 modern 2,898 #2,234
2007 modern 2,924 #2,240
2008 modern 2,949 #2,232
2009 modern 3,000 #2,249
2010 modern 3,082 #2,236
2011 modern 3,061 #2,222
2012 modern 3,052 #2,190
2013 modern 3,061 #2,217
2014 modern 3,097 #2,204
2015 modern 3,083 #2,188
2016 modern 3,071 #2,193

Geography

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Where Renwicks are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Lanchester (Collierley, Kyo, Billingside, Medomsley, Ebchchester, Benfieldside, Heelyfield, Conside, Melrose, Hawick and Wilton, London parishes and Gateshead. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Hawick West End, County Durham, Lochside and Lincluden, Eden and Hawick Central. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Lanchester (Collierley, Kyo, Billingside, Medomsley, Ebchchester, Benfieldside, Heelyfield, Conside Durham
2 Melrose Roxburgh
3 Hawick and Wilton Roxburgh
4 London parishes London 3
5 Gateshead Durham

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Hawick West End Scottish Borders
2 County Durham 014 County Durham
3 Lochside and Lincluden Dumfries and Galloway
4 Eden 001 Eden
5 Hawick Central Scottish Borders

Forenames

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First names often paired with Renwick

These lists show first names that appear often with the Renwick surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Renwick

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Renwick, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce

Group

Established but Challenged

Nationally, the Renwick surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Established but Challenged, within Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce. This does not mean every Renwick household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Many households in these neighbourhoods comprise separated or divorced single parents with dependent children. Residents are typically born in the UK, and these neighbourhoods have relatively few members of ethnic minorities. The prevalence of children, their parents and those at or above normal retirement age, suggests neighbourhood structures may be long-established. Levels of unpaid care are high, and long-term disability is more common than in the Supergroup as a whole. Use of the social rented sector is common, often in terraced houses. Levels of overcrowding are above the Supergroup average. Unemployment is high, while those in work are employed in elementary occupations such as caring, leisure and customer services. Many residents have low level qualifications. Neighbourhood concentrations of this Group are found in the South Wales Valleys, Belfast, Londonderry and the Central Lowlands of Scotland.

Wider pattern

Living in terraced or semi-detached houses, residents of these neighbourhoods typically lack high levels of education and work in elementary or routine service occupations. Unemployment is above average. Residents are predominantly born in the UK, and residents are also predominantly from ethnic minorities. Social (but not private sector) rented sector housing is common. This Supergroup is found throughout the UK’s conurbations and industrial regions but is also an integral part of smaller towns.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Renwick is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Mainly located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Renwick is most concentrated in decile 1 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname towards the less healthy end of the index.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

1
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Renwick falls in decile 5 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

5
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Renwick is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Renwick, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Renwick

The surname Renwick is of English origin, derived from the place name Renwick, a village located in Cumbria, in the northwest of England. The name is believed to have originated in the 12th or 13th century.

Renwick is a locative surname, meaning it was originally taken from the name of a place where a person lived or came from. The place name Renwick is thought to be derived from the Old English words "ren" (a stream or brook) and "wic" (a dairy farm or dwelling), suggesting that the original settlement was located near a stream or brook.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Renwick can be found in the Cumbria Feet of Fines, a legal record from the 13th century, which mentions a "John de Renewyk" in 1246. The surname also appears in various other historical records from the region, such as the Court Rolls of the Manor of Inglewood in 1347, where a "William de Rennewyk" is mentioned.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Renwick surname can be found in various parish records and tax rolls from Cumbria and neighbouring counties. Notable individuals from this period include John Renwick (c. 1662-1688), a Scottish Presbyterian minister and one of the last Covenanter martyrs, who was executed for his beliefs in Edinburgh in 1688.

Another significant figure was James Renwick (1662-1763), a Scottish-American educator and one of the founders of the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton University. He was born in Moniaive, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and emigrated to America in 1718.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Renwick surname continued to be found in various records from northern England and Scotland. One notable individual was James Renwick (1790-1863), a Scottish architect and engineer who designed several significant buildings in Edinburgh, including the Royal Institution and the Nicolson Street Church.

Other notable individuals include Henry Brevoort Renwick (1817-1895), an American architect who designed several notable buildings in New York City, including St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Smithsonian Institution's Castle building in Washington, D.C. Another was Isaac Renwick (1836-1889), an American lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey.

Overall, the surname Renwick has a rich history rooted in the northern English county of Cumbria, with its origins dating back to the medieval period. While the name has spread throughout the English-speaking world, it remains closely tied to its Cumbrian roots and the village from which it originated.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Renwick families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Renwick surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Durham leads with 319 Renwicks recorded in 1881 and an index of 5.38x.

County Total Index
Durham 319 5.38x
Northumberland 281 9.48x
Lanarkshire 233 3.62x
Midlothian 208 7.79x
Yorkshire 126 0.64x
Roxburghshire 124 34.35x
Lancashire 112 0.47x
Dumfriesshire 84 19.08x
Middlesex 63 0.32x
Selkirkshire 55 30.50x
Berwickshire 53 21.96x
Cumberland 43 2.51x
Peeblesshire 39 41.60x
Renfrewshire 39 2.53x
Surrey 36 0.37x
Staffordshire 32 0.48x
Ross-shire 18 3.29x
East Lothian 14 5.30x
Derbyshire 13 0.42x
Gloucestershire 13 0.33x
Hampshire 11 0.27x
Ayrshire 10 0.67x
Essex 10 0.25x
Kirkcudbrightshire 10 3.47x
Hertfordshire 9 0.66x
Cheshire 8 0.18x
Devon 8 0.19x
Kent 7 0.10x
Leicestershire 6 0.27x
Perthshire 6 0.67x
Somerset 6 0.19x
Wiltshire 6 0.34x
Nottinghamshire 5 0.19x
Westmorland 5 1.14x
Berkshire 4 0.27x
Dorset 4 0.31x
Warwickshire 4 0.08x
Angus 3 0.16x
Lincolnshire 3 0.09x
Dunbartonshire 2 0.37x
Fife 2 0.17x
Argyllshire 1 0.18x
Brecknockshire 1 0.25x
Denbighshire 1 0.13x
Glamorgan 1 0.03x
Inverness-shire 1 0.17x
Royal Navy 1 0.42x
Suffolk 1 0.04x
West Lothian 1 0.33x
Wigtownshire 1 0.38x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Gateshead in Durham leads with 91 Renwicks recorded in 1881 and an index of 20.50x.

Place Total Index
Gateshead 91 20.50x
Winlaton 87 152.95x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 80 7.45x
Bishopwearmouth 44 8.65x
Govan 39 2.45x
Hawick 39 48.27x
Glasgow 36 3.15x
Berwick Upon Tweed 32 50.93x
Barony 31 1.90x
Alston 30 94.88x
Galashiels 28 42.00x
Newcastle On Tyne All Sts 26 14.68x
Burton Upon Trent 25 15.88x
Johnstone 24 349.85x
Bedlington 23 23.23x
Melrose 23 50.68x
Lauder 21 157.42x
Kirkpatrick Juxta 20 277.78x
Leeds 20 1.79x
Allendale 18 65.48x
Dalserf 18 27.99x
Blackburn 17 2.70x
Great Whittington 17 1140.94x
Lasswade 17 27.85x
Wilton 17 42.92x
Cambusnethan 16 11.18x
Sheffield 16 2.54x
Alnwick 15 29.42x
Douglas 15 80.73x
Cavers 14 155.04x
Dalziel 14 20.19x
Legerwood 14 367.45x
Westoe 14 4.17x
Battersea 13 1.77x
Bermondsey 13 2.19x
Elswick 13 5.49x
Wallsend 13 13.82x
Barrow In Furness 12 3.73x
Bow London 12 4.73x
Kintail 12 254.78x
Newcastle On Tyne St 12 7.81x
Closeburn 11 107.11x
Colinton 11 36.95x
Edinburgh St Stephens 11 20.93x
Habergham Eaves 11 5.09x
Makerston 11 423.08x
Old Monkland 11 4.30x
Otley 11 22.94x
South Leith 11 3.66x
Tweedsmuir 11 733.33x
Tynemouth 11 6.93x
Derby St Werburgh 10 5.55x
West Calder 10 19.00x
West Derby 10 1.45x
Westgate 10 5.45x
Armley 9 10.33x
Cathcart 9 10.77x
Chorlton On Medlock 9 2.40x
Hexham 9 19.61x
Horton In Bradford 9 2.92x
Melrose 9 28.84x
Morebattle 9 130.43x
Plenmeller 9 703.13x
Southdean 9 181.09x
Stow 9 65.55x
Witton Gilbert 9 38.45x
Byker 8 5.46x
Kilmalcolm 8 43.22x
Kirknewton 8 104.30x
Manchester 8 0.75x
Middlesbrough 8 3.11x
Oldhamstocks 8 206.72x
Plashetts Tynehead 8 266.67x
Traquair 8 153.85x
Warrington 8 2.85x
Bothwell 7 4.00x
Camberwell 7 0.55x
Linton 7 186.17x
Openshaw 7 6.32x
Standon 7 49.54x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Renwick surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 89
Jane 45
Elizabeth 43
Margaret 35
Sarah 34
Ann 23
Annie 21
Isabella 19
Eliza 16
Hannah 15
Emily 11
Martha 9
Ellen 7
Ada 5
Dorothy 5
Edith 5
Eleanor 5
Emma 5
Janet 5
Alice 4
Anne 4
Barbara 4
Catherine 4
Charlotte 4
Maria 4
Rebecca 4
Ruth 4
Agnes 3
Caroline 3
Christina 3
Clara 3
Georgina 3
Harriett 3
Helen 3
Kate 3
Lizzie 3
Louisa 3
Margt. 3
Amelia 2
Elizth. 2
Ethel 2
Florence 2
Frances 2
Grace 2
Henrietta 2
James 2
Mabel 2
Maggie 2
Margerat 2
Marion 2

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Renwick surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
William 79
John 65
Thomas 65
James 51
George 44
Robert 32
Joseph 29
Richard 21
Charles 14
Henry 12
David 10
Alfred 9
Edward 7
Walter 6
Andrew 5
Frank 5
Matthew 5
Alexander 4
Arthur 4
Frederick 4
Harry 4
Peter 4
Albert 3
Isaiah 3
Ralph 3
Robt. 3
Stephen 3
Archibald 2
Benjamin 2
Edwin 2
Geo. 2
Geo.C. 2
Gordon 2
Herbert 2
Isaac 2
Josh. 2
Michael 2
Nicholas 2
Samuel 2
Thos. 2
Tom 2
Wm. 2
Carmela 1
Cecil 1
Ernest 1
Errington 1
F.C.H. 1
F.L. 1
Jane 1
Wm.S. 1

FAQ

Renwick surname: questions and answers

How common was the Renwick surname in 1881?

In 1881, 2,082 people were recorded with the Renwick surname. That placed it at #2,123 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Renwick surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 3,071 in 2016. That gives Renwick a modern rank of #2,193.

What does the Renwick surname mean?

From the Old English elements "regen," meaning advice, and "wic," meaning village, thus "village of advice or counsel."

What does the Renwick map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Renwick bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.